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The revised and updated version of the 2006 Somme panorama book that I produced with Peter Barton is due out in the shops in February 2011. The official publication date is 24 February but I expect that copies will be available from the usual outlets a couple of weeks before then.

The most obvious thing to note is that my name is on the cover this time and that the subtitle has changed from ‘a new panoramic perspective’ to ‘The unseen panoramas’. Other than that, text has been revised throughout and some pictures have been changed. There were elements of the 2006 version that we were not happy with and it is good that an opportunity has arisen to amend many of these parts. With every book you produce, there is inevitably a progression in the skills employed and understanding of what is required. I certainly found the Arras book easier to work on in the years 2008-10 than I did for the 2006 Somme version, but that is to be expected as in the intervening period we had produced the Passchendaele volume as well as my research on a couple of Richard van Emden’s books.

Some images have been replaced and, most notably, we have included a section of one of the most remarkable panoramas of the war – a German panorama taken on 18 August 1916 from a spot near Grevillers showing High Wood and Martinpuich under British bombardment. The undamaged tree-lined Albert-Bapaume runs right across the image. Many who have seen this panorama stand open mouthed – such is the effect of seeing what a Great War battlefield looked like.

Probably the most relevant inclusion to spring 2011 is the revision and addition to the section concerning the use of the Livens Large Gallery Flame Projector. We have added incredible pictures of the weapon in testing at Wembley and some shots from our successful archaeological dig at Mametz in May 2010 showing elements of what we found from the machine. I have seen the first rough cut of the ‘Breathing Fire’ TV documentary for worldwide distribution and it is looking very good. A version for a Channel 4 Time Team Special will be cut for the UK market and broadcast in the spring (exact date to be confirmed).

Should anyone have further questions about alterations to the book then please get in touch via the Contact page.